The present invention relates to an image recording and developing apparatus, and more particularly to an image recording and developing apparatus including, as a unitary assembly, an image recording unit for applying a laser beam to a photographic photosensitive material to record an image thereon and an automatic image developing unit coupled to the image recording unit for automatically developing the image recorded on the photographic photosensitive material.
There has recently been developed and widely used especially in the medical field a radiation image recording and reproducing system for producing the radiation-transmitted image of an object using a stimulable phosphor material capable of emitting light upon exposure to stimulating rays. When a certain phosphor is exposed to a radiation such as X-rays, .alpha.-rays, .beta.-rays, .gamma.-rays, cathode rays, or ultraviolet rays, the phosphor stores a part of the energy of the radiation. When the phosphor exposed to the radiation is subsequently exposed to stimulating rays such as visible light, the phosphor emits light in proportion to the stored energy of the radiation. The phosphor exhibiting such a property is referred to as a "stimulable phosphor".
In the radiation image recording and reproducing system employing such a stimulable phosphor, the radiation image information of an object such as a human body is stored in a sheet having a layer of stimulable phosphor, and then the stimulable phosphor sheet is scanned with stimulating rays to cause the stimulable phosphor sheet to emit light representative of the radiation image. The emitted light is then photoelectrically detected to produce an image information signal that is electrically processed for generating image information which is recorded on a recording medium such as a photosensitive material or displayed as a visible image on a CRT or the like.
For permanently recording such stored radiation image information on a recording medium such as a photographic photosensitive material, an image recording unit such as an image output laser printer for example is employed in the art. More specifically, the image recording unit has a magazine containing a stack of photographic films as recording mediums, which are taken out one by one by a sheet delivery mechanism such as a suction cup. After one film has been taken out of the magazine, a laser beam modulated by an image signal produced from a stimulable phosphor sheet is applied to the film to record the image thereon. The film on which the image has newly been recorded is fed to an automatic image developing unit.
In the automatic image developing unit, the film fed from the image recording unit is moved through a developing solution contained in a developing tank and then through a fixing solution contained in a fixing tank. Thereafter, the film is either transferred through cleaning water contained in a water tank or sprayed with cleaning water.
The film is then passed through squeeze rollers to remove cleaning water off the film, and dried in a drier at a certain temperature, preferably by applying hot air of about 55.degree. C. to the film. The dried film is stored in a storage location, and will be used for medical diagnosis or the like.
The image recording unit, i.e., the image output laser printer, for recording an image signal from a stimulable phosphor sheet on a film, and the automatic image developing unit for developing, fixing, and washing the film are indedependent of each other. From the standpoint of effectively utilizing a limited space in a facility such as a hospital or the like, it is preferable that the image output laser printer and the automatic image developing unit be positioned as closely to each other as possible. With the image output laser printer and the automatic image developing unit being closely positioned, it is necessary to employ a mechanism for automatically loading the film from the image output laser printer into the automatic image developing unit.
Where such an automatic loading mechanism is used, the image output laser printer and the automatic image developing unit are required to be connected by a transfer system such as a conveyor which takes up a certain installation space. Therefore, the overall system still occupies a relatively large space in the facility, preventing effective utilization of the limited available space therein. Since the film transferred between the image output laser printer and the automatic developing unit is not yet developed, it must be kept in a dark environment. Consequently, the transfer system such as a conveyor interconnecting the image output laser printer and the automatic developing unit requires a light shielding means and is relatively complex in structure.
In the event that the image output laser printer and the automatic image developing unit are completely separated and are to be independently operated, the conveyor and the light shielding means are not necessary. In this layout, however, the film from the image output laser printer must be handcarried by an operator to the automatic image developing unit. This is disadvantageous in that the expenditure of labor and cost is increased and the operation efficiency is low.
One solution would be to combine the image recording unit and the automatic image developing unit as a unitary assembly. If the image recording unit and the automatic image developing unit were simply joined to each other, however, an inlet for loading films would have to be defined in the front panel of the image recording unit and an outlet for unloading films would have to be defined in the rear panel of the automatic image developing unit. Therefore, the operator would be required to load a film into the recording and developing assembly through the front inlet, and to remove the film from the recording and developing assembly through the rear outlet. Consequently, the process for loading and removing films is tedious and time-consuming. If the recording and developing assembly were incorporated in a radiation image recording and reproducing apparatus, a space for taking out films from the recording and developing assembly would have to be provided in the radiation image recording and reproducing apparatus. Accordingly, it would be difficult to reduce the size of the radiation image recording and reproducing apparatus and also to reduce the floor space taken up by the apparatus.